As the world celebrated Earth Day yesterday, members of the National Council of Orisha Elders in T&T marked the occasion with a march through San Fernando praying for an end to violence.
The procession began with prayers and offerings of olive oil, milk, water and honey to the earth by various priests in the Orisha faith at Kings Wharf, San Fernando, at 10 am yesterday.
The group of approximately 100 devotees sang as they left the wharf and headed to the City Promenade’s amphitheatre for another prayer session.
Secretary of the council, Neal Ryan Rawlins explained: “We are paying homage to Mother Earth or Onile Mama Latte, as she is called within our religion, in conjunction with the United Nations Mother Earth Day.
“We started this in 2004 under Baba Ford and it is something we kept on the lands on the ancestral lands in Lopinot for about five or six years.”
Rawlins said after being given spiritual instructions to bring the celebrations to the wider community, the devotees began going into the city for their celebration.
“We are doing so this year in the city of San Fernando to bring a sense of healing, prosperity to the land,” he said.
Rawlins said the offerings of prayers, song and various liquids is for the upliftment of the country from crime and violence.
“It is done to elevate the female principle through our Mother of the Earth, through our Onile because of the crime situation in the country and the violence against women and children generally and to elevate the feeling of despair that permeates the land today.”
